Marvelously Messy : clothespin

Monday, August 16, 2010

Clothespin Wreath

Here my latest attempt to cover the bare spots on my walls (or maybe, the crayon marks??). This is a really simple clothespin wreath. I had seen it somewhere recently, a little different that mine in contruction, and the painting was more of a rainbow of colors and less a work with blue shades. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I saw it and a google image search didn't give me any clues. If you think it may have been *you* who inspired me with the project, let me know so that I can credit you accordingly.

To do this project you need:

Wire wreath frame

Cloth (long strip)

Clothespins

Paint

~Paint you pins however you would like. I enjoyed doing shades of blue, but they are plenty of other options. Let them dry.

~Use the cloth to wrap around the frame, over and over, until all of it is covered.

~Start pinning those pins on. I think it looks great if you make enough of them to have them close together.

And....you're done. That easy!!!

Here are some parties I linked up to....check them out and be inspired!!!!

Thrifty Thursday

Frugalicious Friday

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Lilac Frolic

"Fairies, arouse!!

Mix with your song

Harplet and pipe,

Thrilling and clear,

Swarm on the boughs!

Chant in a throng!

Morning is ripe

Waiting to hear."

~William Allingham

As you can see, I've made the fairies to go with my Fairy Bower!! These cuties were extra simple. Here's what you need:

Clothes Pin (older style, no mechanism)
Small bit of Tarp
Extra Strength Glue
Bailing twine
Fabric paint (any color, you'll just need a dab)
Floral Wire
Acrylic Paint
Acrylic Clear Spray
White nylon

The first thing you do is take a dab of fabric paint and plop is where you want the nose to be. It takes a couple hours to dry enough so that you can paint it. It will be a little soft until the next day. Now, take your clothes pins and paint them. I chose peach skin tones. My Munchkin chose:

A fun variety of colors!! Once painted and dry you can start adding on the face paint in whatever style you'd like. Once the whole thing is completely dry, you can shape the wire to make arms and wings. I just used one extra long piece to do both at the same time.

Use the extra tough glue to attche the wire to the back somewhere. Then you get a length of tarp and trim some leaf shapes on one side. Make a little hole for the wings to get through in the back.

Attach the tarp to the torso of the fairy by threading the wings through the hole, and wrap around gluing occasionally. Use a rectangular shaped piece of white nylon, shape it to the wings you made and stitch around the edges, leaving a small hole to fit the wings through. Turn it inside out, fit it onto the wings and sew the small hole up. Then use a running stitch up and over the joining of the two wings to make them separate. Tighten and knot the thread and you're done with that part.
Use a small length of bailing twine and unravel it a bit and glue it to the top of that Fairy. It should be wild and crazy. :-)